A blog by Aarij Anwer

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Over-stepping?

Nope, I’m not talking about over-stepping in cricket. I’m talking about over-stepping in Dua (prayer) and Tahara (purification)…

Abdullah ibn Al-Mughafal [RA] passed by one of his sons while was making dua. His son prayed, “Oh Allah! I ask you to give me the white palace on the right hand side as soon as I enter Paradise!”

Hearing this his father said, “Oh my son! Ask Allah to bless you with Paradise and seek refuge from the Fire, for verily I heard the Prophet [SAWS] say:

There will be a group that will over-step/transgress the bounds with regards to purification and dua.”

[Abu Dawud, Ahmad]

Interestingly, the hadith mentions two very important aspects of a Muslim’s life: tahara and dua. Tahara (purification) is the key to the prayer, and dua is the essence of prayer. Thus, shaitaan has placed potholes in these two key areas so that a Muslim who’s striving to get closer to Allah [SWT] can potentially fall into them and lose a portion of their good deeds. This hadith is very amazing as:

it pinpoints these two dangers, and warns the believers of the traps of shaitaan

it shows the balanced nature of the shariah. Truly, we are a nation wasatiyya (a balanced nation)!

Practical lessons that we can take away from this hadith are:

With regards to dua, a person should avoid needless requests. The duas found in the Quran and Sunnah are the best, so in general, we should use them frequently. Check this out for some super-cool duas.

With regards to purification, striking the middle way is tricky. We need to purify our clothes and body to the best of our knowledge, and then in sha Allah, not follow the was wasa (whisperings) of shaitaan. I find this very hard, personally speaking.

May Allah give us the tawfeeq to be tawwabeen (those who make tawbah) and mutatuhhireen (those who purify themselves). Ameen, ya Rabbil ‘Alameen!